Why we must Blank Baker:

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• Isolation: He has demonstrated continuous opposition to President Donald Trump, up to and including failure to support his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, citing concerns about abortion access in his public statement. Baker has made multiple public declarations he did not vote for President Trump because he found him unacceptable.

• Specifically on Kavanaugh, Baker recently said in support of Christine Blasey Ford: "I will be a governor who stands up for women, speaks out against sexual abuse and believes survivors who have the courage to share their stories​," he said." Actual Republicans believe in Due Process of Law. Actual Republicans are willing to support a Republican President trying to bring originalist jurisprudence to a Supreme Court that too often oversteps its bounds. The Trump Administration has no reason to work with Massachusetts while Charlie Baker sits in the corner office.

• We are taking from his example: If a nominee for an office is insufficient, we need not vote for them. Baker must live or die by the sword he wields.

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• Unconstitutionality: He walked lockstep with Maura Healy on attacking the 2nd Amendment, doing nothing to stop her illegal order banning previously legal firearms with no accompanying legislation.

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• Harm: He signed the Bathroom and Locker Room Law behind closed doors, a bill also championed by Maura Healy which exposes women to harm and predation while making any resistance a potential hate crime. Under this law, a male predator may simply claim he identifies as a woman to gain access to these facilities. Maura Healy's response to this concern was to tell women to "hold it in" if they felt uncomfortable. Bad legislation requires a veto. Baker's approach to Maura Healy is basketball selfies.

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• Crippling Interference: He raised and spent over two million dollars to install public employees financially dependent on his office on the Republican State Committee. The primary role of Republican State Committee members is to raise money, vote on financial allocations, and advance the party overall. Public employees are prohibited by law from raising money, and if they are on the public payroll controlled by one candidate they cannot operate in the objective interests of the whole party. In one act he was able to make the Republican Party more prone to corruption and weaken it structurally.

• State Employees were also used to make calls to opponents of his endorsed candidates as a subtle act of intimidation. Jim Conroy (then Baker's Chief of Staff) made calls to candidates in the State Committee races that were not endorsed by the governor. This was done on public time. Conroy has since been removed and then re-hired for a different position.

• This Crippling Interference took priority over electing Republicans to the State Legislature. The election for State Committee was held the same day as the 2016 Presidential Primary, and special elections were also held that day. One seat when uncontested, the other two Republicans lost. More robocalls went out for the State Committee candidates than any actual legislative candidates. With Charlie Baker at the top, the Republican Party focuses on a mission of serving his narrow personal power interests instead of its proper goals.

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• Corruption: One of these public employees on the State Committee, Matthew "Sirens" Sisk was at the center of a July 2017 Independence Day scandal where Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) equipment was used to shuttle prominent Massachusetts Republicans to and from the Boston Pops Concert, using National Committeeman Ron Kaufman's home as a shuttle point. Sisk was later fired for abusing the sirens installed in his vehicle to bypass Boston traffic. Another employee on the State Committee, Michael Case was fired after pornography was discovered on his DCR computer. Charlie Baker gave them jobs, endorsed them to run the party and spend its funds when they could not raise money or allocate objectively, and then the scandals they caused hurt every Republican by association.

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• Inaction for Women: In 2017 the Massachusetts Federation of Republican Women (MFRW) lost its charter after over 80 years in operation because a dispute with the MassGOP that forced them to either violate their bylaws or comply with the MassGOP's demands. Many of these women supported Baker in his election efforts, but he refused to use his influence to get the party chair (who he in effect selects) to back off.​

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• Undermining Republicans: Jacob Ventura was a Republican candidate running for State Senate in a special election. While it is true Baker endorsed Ventura, a State House News Service article on November 13th, four days before the election, qualified it thusly: '"Governor Baker's record on equality, that includes signing into law the transgender public accommodations bill, is very clear – and he disagrees with Mr. Ventura on all of these issues," said Jim Conroy, a political aide to the governor.'

• This is but one example of these public denunciations.

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• Supporting Democrats over Republicans: Charlie Baker's only endorsement to date for a contested public office to bear fruit is Dan Rivera, a Sanctuary City Democrat Mayor of Lawrence for his re-election bid. There was a Republican competing on the ballot for that race.

• In the Republican State Committee Races, in addition to public employees Baker also endorsed a person last registered as a Democrat in New York over Steve Aylward, who recently chaired the Tank the Gas Tax Ballot Initiative Baker credited with rallying to win the election.

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• Conclusion: Charlie Baker is not objectionable for petty reasons. There are many moderate Unenrolled, moderate Republicans, and conservative Democrats the Republican Party must attract and mobilize to win elections. What Charlie Baker is incapable of delivering is a competitive Republican Party that will bring real balance to Beacon Hill. He has been given four years with a party that has had nowhere to go but up, but has failed to even continue its momentum from 2010. Republican State Legislative results in 2016 were net zero gains, and we actually lost a Sheriff. Charlie Baker is an albatross. We must hold him to his own standard: If you cannot vote for the nominee, you do not need to.

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• Get Out To Vote and Blank Baker: Charlie Baker's prominence and long list of inadequacies and betrayals is disheartening for many. The presumed standard bearer of Massachusetts Republicans does not act like one. Crucially, this cannot be allowed to discourage voters. The Governor's race is not the top of the ticket. It is below the Senate Race, for which we have a fine candidate. It is above the executive offices for which we have a stellar Attorney General candidate to rid us of Maura Healy, and other candidates who will do well once Charlie Baker's negative influence is removed.

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